NEW YORK—Public broadcasting television puts a spotlight on maternal health in Africa with a feature-length documentary on an unconventional project that trains midwives in Mozambique to perform obstetric surgery.

During their annual meeting held July 7-9 in Hokkaido, Japan, the heads of state of the Group of Eight (G-8) major industrialized countries for the first time focused on maternal health. Read below about related advocacy efforts, news articles, and blogs from the Summit.

Global health advocates at the recent Group of Eight summit conference have issued a scorecard giving the participating world leaders poor marks for their action – and inaction – on worldwide health needs, particularly those of women and children.